Chelsea won UEFA Europa League Final 2019

Chelsea scored four goals in a devastating second half display to beat Arsenal 4-1 and lift the Europa League Trophy. The win in the all-English Final, played at the Baku Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan gave Italian Manager Maurizio Sarri a major trophy in his first season in charge and Chelsea a first European title since the 2013 Europa League.

After a tepid first half, former Arsenal striker Giroud put Chelsea ahead in the 49th minute with an angled header. The Blues doubled their lead 10 minutes later when Pedro diverted a cross from Hazard beyond Petr Cech.

With Arsenal on the ropes, defender Ainsley Maitland-Niles collided with Giroud to concede a penalty that Hazard stroked home after 65 minutes. Alex Iwobi clawed a goal back for Arsenal but Chelsea restored their three-goal cushion in the 72nd minute when Hazard swapped passes with Giroud to score his second.

After the match, the Belgian star confirmed that he was likely to leave the club this summer, amid widespread speculation about a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid. By contrast, Arsenal has lost five of their six major European finals, with their only victory coming in the 1994 Cup Winners' Cup against Parma.

F1 2019: Valtteri Bottas wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Valtteri Bottas extended Mercedes incredible opening to 2019, enjoying a lights-to-flag victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as the Silver Arrows secured their fourth consecutive one-two of the season.

Sebastian Vettel completed the podium in Baku, Ferrari once again failing to de-stabilize Mercedes despite their apparent straight-line advantage. He was ahead of Max Verstappen, the Red Bull driver maintaining his record of finishing in the top four at every race this year. Charles Leclerc was next up, meanwhile, the Monegasque recovering decently from his qualifying crash yesterday to take his third fifth place of the year – while a late stop to try and get the extra point for fastest lap paid dividends as he set a new lap record for the track.

Baku specialist Sergio Perez was a strong sixth for Racing Point, ahead of the McLaren pairing of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris. The second Racing Point of Lance Stroll took ninth, while Kimi Raikkonen made the most of a pit lane start to claim the final points-paying position for Alfa Romeo.

Despite a relatively trouble-free Azerbaijan Grand Prix for much of the field, Daniel Ricciardo recorded his third non-finish of the year after running wide into Turn 3 and then reversing into the stopped car of Daniil Kvyat, who was also forced to retire.

F1 2018: Lewis Hamilton wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Ferrari Sebastian Vettel had looked on course for his third win of the season in Baku. Then the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen collided late on, the Safety car was deployed and everything changed.

Valtteri Bottas made his sole pit stop for Mercedes – it gave him the lead and when the unfortunate Vettel tried to overtake at Turn 1 on the restart, the German out-braked himself and instantly dropped out of the podium places. But within a lap, Bottas was also robbed of victory after running over debris and picking up a puncture – it handed the win to team mate Lewis Hamilton, whose triumph over Kimi Raikkonen gave him the championship lead, as Force India also celebrated with an unexpected podium for Sergio Perez.

Vettel trailed home fourth, ahead of Renault’s Carlos Sainz, with rookie Charles Leclerc an incredible sixth for Sauber – his first F1 points. The McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne were seventh and ninth, split by Williams’ Lance Stroll, with Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley getting his maiden point as he completed the top 10. There had been drama from the off at the race start, with Force India’s Esteban Ocon and Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin both eliminated – Ocon went into the wall after contact with Raikkonen as the Ferrari tried to pass at Turn 3, while Sirotkin ran into the rear of the sister Force India of Perez, before getting pinched between Alonso’s McLaren and Nico Hulkenberg Renault.

There was one final piece of drama, though. With victory seemingly his, Bottas ran over a piece of debris on the track, suffering a puncture and allowing Hamilton to cruise to his first Grand Prix victory this season. It means the Briton now leads Vettel in the driver standings, 70 points to 66, with Raikkonen third ahead of Bottas, 48 to 40. In the constructors' stakes, Ferrari have retaken the lead on 114 points to 110.

Daniel Ricciardo wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Red Bulls’ Daniel Ricciardo won a rollercoaster Grand Prix in Azerbaijan, as rookie Lance Stroll took his maiden podium for Williams, pipped on the line by Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas. Championship leader Sebastian Vettel beat Lewis Hamilton to fourth place, despite being penalized for dangerous driving after hitting his Mercedes rival behind the safety car.

The safety car came out first on lap 12 to clear the stricken Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat, allowing Bottas to unlap himself after he had collided with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen at the start, dropping to last place with a puncture. The race restarted on lap 17 but just seconds later it was under safety car again due to debris on track. As the safety car prepared to peel off on Lap 19, Vettel ran lightly into the back of the slowing Hamilton. The Ferrari then pulled alongside and banged wheels with the Mercedes, seemingly in frustration.

Racing resumed seconds later on Lap 20, but again it was short lived. Esteban Ocon tipped Force India team mate Sergio Perez into the wall at Turn 2, bringing out the safety car once more. That quickly became a red flag as race control decided the track needed a proper clean up. Twenty five minutes later, with Perez and Raikkonen back in the race after repairs, they were running once more on Lap 24, with Ricciardo storming from sixth to third into Turn 1 on the restart. It would prove to be the move that won him the race.

The drama continued with Hamilton pitting for repairs to a loose headrest on Lap 32 – and as he did came news of a 10-second stop-go penalty for Vettel for dangerous driving. Somehow Vettel emerged from that in seventh place just ahead of his title rival, but by then the race victory had eluded both. The closing laps were about how close Vettel and Hamilton could get to the podium – and whether teenager Stroll could hold off the ever-closing Bottas. The Canadian rookie almost kept second, but couldn’t stop the Mercedes surging ahead on the line by just a tenth of a second. Four seconds ahead of them Ricciardo had already taken the flag for his fifth F1 win and his first of 2017.

Lewis Hamilton wins Canada Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton stormed to his sixth Canadian Grand Prix victory, leading home team mate Valtteri Bottas as Mercedes dominated in Montreal. Third place went to Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo after Ferrari hit trouble early on, with Sebastian Vettel battling back on fourth, his lead in the drivers’ championship cut to from 25 points to 12 points.

It was massively windy in Montreal all day, and that played havoc with the cars’ aerodynamic stability in the race. Vettel picked up front wing damage almost instantly when Max Verstappen made a blinding start from fifth on the grid to go round the outside of him into second place by Turn 1, as Bottas went for the inside to grab third. Further round the lap, exiting Turn 2, Romain Grosjean and Carlos Sainz tangled, the Haas spinning the Toro Rosso down the grass on the inside of the track until it collected the innocent Felipe Massa’s Williams in the chicane that follows. Exit two cars on the spot, as Grosjean limped back to the pits for a new nose.

Meanwhile, Ricciardo maintained fourth place ahead of Perez, Raikkonen and Ocon. Raikkonen pitted first, for supersofts on lap 17. Ricciardo went for softs on 18, and Perez for supersofts on 19. Force India kept the ultrasofts Ocon out until the 32nd lap, by which time he was running second to Hamilton. The stop dropped him back to sixth, but that became fifth when Raikkonen pitted again for ultrasofts on the 41st lap.

Outside the top ten, Renault’s Jolyon Palmer held on to 11th by a fraction from Haas’s Kevin Magnussen, who was penalized for overtaking under the virtual safety car, as the Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein sandwiched Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren for 13th and 15th places. The Montreal result reverses Hamilton’s misfortunes from Monaco, and indicates that Mercedes – who reclaim their lead in the constructors’ standings over Ferrari – have a handle on their tyre problems at last, keeping the mighty title fight right on the boil.